Gifts for gardeners, Idea No. 2

Which would be a really funny idea if it referred to manure. Oh, what the heck! Let’s “doo” it! Just don’t forget to send me your own garden-gift ideas to win more fun garden swag than you can shake a trowel at. Prizes will go out weekly and be announced more often — just keep checking in.

This is Colorado, folks, and being a livestock-producing state, we’ve got heaps of the stuff (without even bringing up the topic of politics). Want to make your gardening pal happy? Offer to visit a neighbor’s horse farm and bring back a couple of containers of the stuff — preferably as well-aged and weed-free as possible. Or importune a neighbor with chickens or bunnies or goats or sheep or llamas. Be a manure maven. Alleluia, Amend!

Soil gurus often recommend spreading the stuff in fall or winter, at least 3 months before you plant, and not mixing in more of it than your soil can incorporate. Here’s CSU’s extension guidelines on using manure in the garden. There are some cautions, so read all of them, especially if you’re planning on using the stuff on food crops.